No. 1 seed Tim Jackson, who matched Bryan Norton’s birdie on No. 17, then chipped in from 30 feet on No. 18 to close Norton out, 2 up:
“I’ve decided that the nature of this course lends itself to up-and-downs. I missed a couple of fairways today by less than a foot, and couldn’t advance the ball up to the green. You’ve got to keep your head about you and do some work around these greens and try to stay in the game. That’s about all you can do.”
“I had a chance to really put my foot down and I didn’t. I made a couple of mistakes and kind of kept him in it. He’s a very good player. He’s been around a long time and had a lot of success. I’m happy to get through it.”
No. 33 Bryan Norton, 2014 runner-up, who lost to Tim Jackson, 2 up:
“When he missed his approach shot to the left [on No. 18], I thought it was a mistake. I thought he’d have a really hard shot, and he ended up making it. He also chipped in on No. 9 for a par when he was in trouble. It’s hard to beat that. And he’s Tim Jackson, so he’s always going to hit a lot of good shots.”
“I knew I had to bring a really good game. I haven’t had a great year and Tim’s had a great year. I just didn’t make enough putts. On the back nine I missed a 6-footer, a 9-footer, a 10-footer and a 12-footer for birdies. When you’re playing Tim, you’ve got to make some of those. Tim will be tough to beat.”
No. 8 Bob Royak, who defeated Richard Jeffers, 2 and 1:
Referring to his first double-round day in a USGA championship: “I love the heat. If it can get up to 100, that’s good for me. I’m from Atlanta, so this is nothing. The afternoon should be even better for me than the morning.”
No. 13 Paul Simson, who defeated Chip Lutz, 5 and 3:
“I played a lot better than yesterday; scored better, kept the ball in position better. I was 1 or 2 up for a while, then I finally got to 3 up on 12. As we’ve seen this week, no lead is safe in match play, so it was big to finally get that breathing room against a great player like Chip.”
No. 45 Chip Lutz, the defending champion, who lost to Paul Simson:
“It has been a great year, but it’s disappointing to not carry on here. I didn’t play well today, which is unfortunate, but Paul played pretty steady and I couldn’t find much tempo. I went to Bogota [Colombia] with Paul and we had a wonderful week [representing the USA in the Copa 70 Anos], and it has been a lot of golf and a lot of consecutive events. After representing Pennsylvania in the [USGA] State Team in a couple of weeks, I will need a timeout, but it’s been a great run.”
No. 15 Steven Liebler, who defeated Adam Kugler, 3 and 2
“On No. 16, I hit my third shot in the right bunker and then holed the 20-foot bunker shot for birdie. It kind of breaks his back. I was 2 up with three to go and he’s got a 3-footer for par and I’ve got it in the bunker. It looks like we’re going to walk off there either dormie, or I’m going to be 1 up and I holed the shot. That’s match play.”
